Are You Sure?

Client:- "Are you sure that this functionality is not achievable?"
BA:- "ummm...let me check with my technical team and then I will get back to you!" (Phew!)

As a BA I can bet that this is one situation through which one comes across quite often. There are two scenarios:

• Either you are working on a solution/application which is being built from scratch, or
• You are working on a solution/platform delivery which is already there and your client requires a customized version with new functionality (e.g. Open source ECM solution like Alfresco which I am currently working upon).

If you talk about the first case then for any BA its like an open ended scenario where everything is required from ground zero. So except basic nitty gritty of the domain you cant do much about the solution (if yes then do post your comments).

Pain is in second situation where any BA/SME/Consultant would initially go for a thorough understanding of the already existing product. But this is where the trap is, many times one will end up getting satisfied by inside out knowledge of the solution, but then what about the shortcomings of that solution?

So if your client asks you that whether its possible to include certain functionality in your solution or not, in that case your first reaction would be to run for cover behind your tech guy. But while working on Alfresco Share as a KM expert, I realized that although I have gained good understanding of the solution, but every time my client asks for certain basic technical customization, it became a bit complex to give answer to such queries.

Eventually my tech director told me that its critical to go beyond your solution and try to figure out that what all are the limitations of your product, so that you can say NO convincingly in case if some thing is beyond the scope of the architecture.

Moral- Not just learn about your product/solution/platform but also be aware about its shortcomings/limitations. Always ensure that you are not lost in creating reams of spec documents. Take a break and have a casual chat with your development team, it will surely give certain new insights.

So what are your experiences as a BA in this regard? Do post your comments.

Have You Mind Mapped?

As a Business Analyst, I love mind mapping my brain storming sessions with clients. I owe introduction to this tool to one of my ex-manager, who told me that mind mapping is one such technique where you can easily capture customer's requirement on the top of that a bird's eye view of the solution can also be viewed.

Sample this- you are in a client session brainstorming over the requirements, where client is just telling you randomly about his needs. Although as a BA you might be able to connect dots with those random requirements, but problem is once you are done with the traditional notepad approach and settle down to draw a flow you will land up missing some crucial joints.

Thus why not use mind mapping techniques in the very first place itself? Personally I use Freemind (http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page) for mind mapping the requirement elicitation process. But if you are not that environment friendly then use of stickies is possible as well to note points and then define a flow out of it in later stages.

Thus few reasons why I use Mind mapping (through Freemind software)

• Its handy- no need of pen and paper
• Effective tool to generate ideas as well within short span of time
• Effective way to let your client know that how you have drawn a picture out of his requirements
• Easy to maintain (paper might get lost, crumpled ;) etc etc )

But one important thing, newbies might think that is mind map a deliverable? then the answer is NO. its just a tool to assist you, that's it.
Depending on the scenario I would love to share my mind map with client just to tell him that what has been captured.

Bottom line- brainstorming sessions are very critical, and if it goes wrong ,then complete requirement elicitation process might go for a toss so as a BA one must ensure that no information is missed during this process.

Let me know if you have any suggestions for capturing the idea apart from mind maps?

Journey Till Date

Tech Team: "Dude your requirement is not feasible!"
Client: "The requirement was within scope and initially you said that it will be done"
Manager: "Why aren't we not getting a sign off?"

Phew! for any typical BA this might be a normal scenario. But I believe that the learning from such loops should never be missed upon. This thought of capturing and analyzing the scenario and possible outcomes has led to start of this blog.

I came across so many blogs related to BA, but still felt a need for platform where 'I' can share my day to day learning from this exciting profession called-BA. So here it is. "Musings of a Business Analyst".

By the time this post will come into existence I would have completed 22 months in job as a Business Analyst.
Enough writing, I would love to post all that stuff which would be helpful to new BA's like me and the whole community.
Lets see how it shapes up.